Colicchio & Sons covered in “Restaurants Reboot at Reality-Show Speed” – New York Times

Wood Stone is very excited about a new installation at Tom Colicchio’s new restaurant, Colicchio & Sons in New York. Tom’s new restaurant and a few other outstanding restaurants were covered this week in the dining section of the New York Times. Below is an excerpt from the article.

…Across town at the former Craftsteak, which served its last Wagyu flatiron on New Year’s Eve, Tom Colicchio has kept much intact amid a whirlwind transformation into Colicchio & Sons, which opened on Jan. 18. “If you were a regular here, you’ll notice the differences,” Mr. Colicchio said. “But if you were here once, you’ll walk in and you won’t even notice it’s changed.”

The 3,500-square-foot space has retained many of its signature elements, including the painter Stephen Hannock’s mammoth canvas, “Chelsea Winter with Elevated Park; New York High Line.” The architecture firm Bentel & Bentel, which recently received an American Institute of Architects award for its Craftsteak design, was charged with gently tweaking it. After all, sticking with your team and not overdoing it (no burbling fountains) is the best way to get the job done in a hurry. For Faustina, Mr. Conant also relied upon designers he’d worked with before.

The changes at Colicchio & Sons — which Mr. Colicchio estimates cost about $400,000 — are subtle, yet striking. What first greets your eye is an imposing steel shelf stuffed with firewood to help keep the enormous new Wood Stone oven — where Mr. Colicchio says he will be found working most nights — smoking at 650 degrees. “The glow really warms the place up,” he said.

The result is cozier than Craftsteak was; even the servers’ ties are noticeably looser. Colicchio & Sons is a frank admission that the era of blockbuster corporate-card-fueled restaurants is over for now….

Read the Full Article at www.nytimes.com